Auriga / Taurus / Orion / Canis Major / Canis Minor / Gemini

Winter Hexagon

Winter Circle

common observer pattern · high confidence

A tour of the brightest winter sky: Capella, Aldebaran, Rigel, Sirius, Procyon, Pollux, and Castor. It is too large for one binocular field, so use it as an evening route-map.

Central RA: 06^h 31^m 47.5^s
Central Dec: +16° 24′ 14″
Brightest member: V -1.46
Best months from 50°N: December–March evenings
Suggested instrument: naked-eye
Approx. span: 65.8°

Finder context

Use the nearby bright stars to locate the gold box, then move to the larger chart for the pattern itself.

Framing: Approximate member-star span: 65.8°; use at least 92.2° field for context.

Observing and imaging

Naked eye

Start with the unaided eye. Suburban skies usually show the main stars.

Binoculars

Binoculars are optional: use them to check colours, nearby doubles, or richer Milky Way background.

Small scope

A telescope is usually too narrow for the whole shape; use it after the pattern has guided you to a target.

Imaging

Use a multi-panel mosaic or an ultra-wide field.

Tonight from your latitude

Set your location and date to see a useful window, peak altitude, sky visibility, and Moon conditions. Use Month to compare the season ahead.

Latitude 50°NLongitude -114°Date Month Sky darkness Bortle 4 · limit V 6.1

Naked-eye visibility by sky class

Bortle class rates night-sky brightness. The atlas counts a pattern as recognisable when at least 70% of its defining stars are visible.

Bortle 3: 7/7 stars — fully visibleBortle 5: 7/7 stars — fully visibleBortle 7: 7/7 stars — fully visible

Moon impact

For 50°N in the best month, green dates mark at least two hours with the pattern above 20° and the Moon below the horizon.

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Member stars

Name	Bayer / Flamsteed	HR	RA J2000	Dec J2000	V mag
Sirius	9Alp CMa	HR 2491	06^h 45^m 08.9^s	−16° 42′ 58″	-1.46
Capella	13Alp Aur	HR 1708	05^h 16^m 41.4^s	+45° 59′ 53″	0.08
Rigel	19Bet Ori	HR 1713	05^h 14^m 32.3^s	−08° 12′ 06″	0.12
Procyon	10Alp CMi	HR 2943	07^h 39^m 18.1^s	+05° 13′ 30″	0.38
Pollux	78Bet Gem	HR 2990	07^h 45^m 18.9^s	+28° 01′ 34″	1.14
Elnath	112Bet Tau	HR 1791	05^h 26^m 17.5^s	+28° 36′ 27″	1.65
Castor	66Alp Gem	HR 2891	07^h 34^m 36.0^s	+31° 53′ 18″	1.98

Source and confidence

common observer pattern; high confidence. Widely used observing pattern across several constellations.

Citations

Bright Star Catalogue, 5th Revised Ed.: Hoffleit, D. & Warren, W.H. Jr. (1991). Positions, V magnitudes, Bayer/Flamsteed identifiers. source
Star Tales: Ridpath, I. Constellation and asterism notes used to cross-check common sky-pattern names. source
The Hipparcos and Tycho Catalogues: ESA SP-1200 (1997). Used as the modern astrometric reference named by the atlas; the MVP pages expose BSC5 J2000 fields for the plotted bright-star members.